The subject of the present invention is a valve with or without integrated pressure reducer for pressurized-gas container and such a valve equipped with a conditioning connection for filling the container associated with the valve or with the integrated pressure-reducing valve.
Numerous cylinders intended to contain a gas under pressure are equipped with an integrated pressure-reducing valve. An integrated pressure-reducing valve consists in a single device which allows both the cylinder to be opened or closed and also the pressure at which the gas contained in the cylinder will be delivered to be adjusted. These integrated pressure-reducing valves comprise an inlet coupling with allows the container on which it is mounted to be filled using a conditioning connection connected to a source of said pressurized gas.
The attached FIGS. 1a and 1b depict an exemplary embodiment of the filling coupling and of the conditioning connection. FIG. 1a depicts the body 10 of the integrated pressure-reducing valve equipped with a tapped thread 12 to which the filling coupling 14 is fixed. The coupling 14 comprises a valve element 16 that shuts off the valve. The upper end 18 of this coupling defines a cylindrical lateral guide surface 20 the function of which will be explained later on. The assembly formed by the coupling and the pressure-reducing valve also comprises a screw thread 22 for the fixing of a conditioning connection 24 depicted in FIG. 1b. The conditioning connection 24 has the overall shape of a cylindrical sleeve 26 closed by off by an end 28 into which the flexible filling pipe 30 is fixed. Near its free end 32, the sleeve 25 has a tapped thread 34 to collaborate with the screw thread 22 of the pressure-reducing valve.
This assembly is very simple to use. The conditioning connection 24 is brought up opposite the filling coupling 14 then pushed around this coupling, guided by the surface 20. By turning the conditioning connection 24, the tapped thread 34 collaborates with the screw thread 22 to secure the conditioning connection to the filling coupling in a sealed way. Once this operation has been performed, the valve element 16 is opened, either under the effect of the pressure of the gas in the flexible pipe 30 or by a manual operation.
It should be added that the screw thread and the tapped thread 22 and 34 of the filling coupling and of the conditioning connection are standardized and correspond to the type of gas used.
It will be understood that it is desirable to make the unauthorized filling of compressed-gas cylinders impossible or difficult. The reason behind this is that these operations when performed by the inexperienced may prove hazardous and may also lead to contamination of the cylinder, for example if the gas introduced into the cylinder is not the same as the gas remaining therein or, as the case may be, if the filling operation is not performed with a minimum amount of precaution.
It will therefore be understood that there is a real interest in having cylinders intended to contain pressurized gas and which are equipped with valves with or without integrated pressure reducers, which can be filled only by the legitimate owner of the cylinder. In other words, the problem posed is that of preventing a gas cylinder or container from being filled by someone who is not authorized to do so, but without this in any way leading to complications in the cylinder-filling operation, as this would affect the productivity of the conditioning centers.
In order to achieve this goal according to the invention, the valve with or without integrated pressure reducer for a pressurized-gas container intended to collaborate with a conditioning connection to allow said container to be filled, comprises a filling coupling having a longitudinal axis, a guide end and a screw thread offset axially with respect to said end, said end having a contour equipped with at least one impression protruding from said contour, in projection in a plane orthogonal to said longitudinal axis, the impression of the end of said coupling being secant with a circle the diameter of which is equal to the smallest of the inside and outside diameters of said screw thread and centered on said axis.
It will be understood that, by virtue of the presence of the impression which constitutes a relief on the end of the cylinder filling coupling, it is impossible for the cylinder to be filled when it should not, using a conditioning connection of standard type. It will also be understood that the use of a conditioning connection having, for example, a screw thread of a larger diameter in order to get around the problem posed by the presence of the impression would not allow the conditioning connection to be secured to the pressure-reducing coupling.
Another object of the invention is to provide a valve with or without integrated pressure reducer for a pressurized-gas container equipped with a conditioning connection able to collaborate with said valve to allow said container to be filled, said valve comprising a filling coupling having a longitudinal axis, and a guide end and a screw thread offset axially with respect to said end, said end having a contour equipped with at least one impression projecting from said contour, said conditioning connection having an end equipped with a screw thread able to collaborate with the screw thread of said valve, the screw thread of said connection having at least one impression that is the mate of the impression of the end of said coupling, in projection in a plane orthogonal to said longitudinal axis, the impression of the end of said coupling being secant with a circle the diameter of which is equal to the smallest of the inside and outside diameters of the screw thread of said connection and centered on said axis, by means of which, for a given angular position about said longitudinal axis, said connection can be engaged around said coupling and the two screw threads can collaborate with one another.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from reading, the description which follows""of several embodiments of the invention which are given by way of nonlimiting examples.